Prepayment attachment for gas-meters.



E B. DE LAMATY R. PREPAYM ENT ATTACHMENT FOR GAS METERS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-23, 1912- I Patented June 13, 1916. I I

2 SHEETS-SHEET '1. 7

. THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., wAsmNG'roN, D, c.

E. 8,. DE LA MATYR.

PREPAYMENT ATTACHMENT FOR GAS METERS.

' APPLICATION FILED SEPT-23, T912. 1 ,1 86,891. Patented June 13, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

f)? yam Zr: ElLdS B. DeLa ELIAS B. DE LA MATYE, or LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

PREPAYMENT arraenivrnn'r FOR Gas-METERS.

Application'filed September 23, 1912. Serial No. 721,967.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELIAS B.- DE LA MATYR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new. and useful Prepaying Attachment for Gas-Meters, of which the following is a specification.

An object of the invention is to provide a cheap and simple apparatusthat is not'lia ble toget out of order and that can be applied to gas ing boxes and withoutany liability of leakage from the meter.

Another ob 'ect of vide a prepaying apparatus which can be readily changed to measure the various quantities which may beprepaid under varying prices with the same coin.

In the United States charges for gas to consumers are usuallyrated at so much per thousand cubic feet and the prices per thousand cubic feet are made to vary by the-sum of five cents or some multiple thereof. Consequently five is a divisor of the rateand also of the amount of gas in the unit of measurementtowhichthe rate is applied. The coins of the United States from five cents up are also in denominations of five so that prepayments in coin-controlled meters are made in one-twentieth part of a dollar or some multiple thereof.

In carrying out this invention it is deemed most desirable to illustrate it as constructed to be operated by quarter dollars so that if gas were sold at one dollar per thousand cubic feet, four quarters would operate the releasing mechanism so as to deliver one thousand cubic feet; All variations from such price may then be madeby supplying such gearing. as may be necessary to accommodate the ratio between the unit of measurement and the price per unit.

An object of this invention is to. provide simple and convenient means whereby the proper ratio may be maintained when the price is changed. j

- An object of the'invention is to provide means whereby a meter can be 'made to serve as a prepay or a non-prepav gas meter at will by simply attaching to or removing from the meter a prepaying device.-

So far as I am aware, there hasv never heretofore been produced any attachment that can be applied to and removed from meters without the use of stuff the invention is to prothe meter thus to change non-prepaying meter already installedto a prepaying 1neter. I therefore regard this invention as pioneer in the art in various features which will hereinafter be more fully described.

A further object of theinvention is to so construct the attachment that the gas will be immediately cut off when the meter 7 has registered the amount of gas for which payment has been made, so that the user .will get full benefit and a full strong light from all the gas for which hepays.

Other objects and advantages may appear from the subjoined detail description. The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation mainly diagrammatic with the bell crank latch partly in section on line m Fig. 1*, of the invention as applied to the -dial mechanism of a meter. The parts are in the meter-stopping coin-intercepting position. Fig. 1 is an ele-' vation ofthe bell crank latch detached and viewed from the left in'Fig. 1. Fig. 2 is a reduced broken plan showing the index frame fixed to a fragment of the meter case which is shown in section; also the two-feet indicator and the shaft and gear wheels which transmit motion from the meter mechanism to the two-feet indicator shaft. Most of the dial movement is omitted. Fig. 3 is a fragmental rear elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 2, the index driving shaft and pinion being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the prepaying meter attachment shown in Fig. 1, the parts being in gas-supplying position. Fig. 5 is a fragmental view of a portion of the attachment frame seen from line at, Fig. 4.. Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation on irregular line indicated by co -a2, Fig. 4, looking to Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 913, 1916; V

the right in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 7 is an edge view from the right of Flg. 4. Fig. 8 1s a plan section on irregular line indicated by m m Fig. 4. Fig. 9

dex movement as hereinbefore set forth and the prepaying mechanism is actuated directly from the index movement.

Means are provided to force the coin 16 along the coin way between the contacts 19, 20 so as to turn the bell-crank 22, 22 and retract the detent 26'from engagement with the tooth 27 thus to allow the meter to operate, and such means may comprise a coinstarting arm 35 which normally forms a part of one edge wall of the chute 18 and is pivoted to the frame (1 by a pin v36 that is slotted at one end; and is adapted to be turned against the retracting tension of a coil spring 37 by means of a tongued key 7 38 that engages said slotted end; said key extending through the cover 39 .of the attachment which is attachable to the head of the meter case 40. By turning the key 38 when engaged with said pin, the coin-starting arm 35 will be projected into the chute 18 so as to engage the edge of the coin '16 above the horlzontal plane of the contacts 19, 20 and to exert pressure to force the coin to turn the bell-crank and allow the coin-to enter the appropriate adjacent seat 15 of the coin-carrying wheel ,9, at the same time the arm 35 thus acts through the coin as means for retracting the detent 26 and permitting running of the meter mechanism; which thereupon drives the coin-carrying wheel 9 to move the coin downward along the lower bell-crank recess 24, of which the edge is constructed substantially'to an arc having its generating axis to coincide with the axis of the coin-carrying wheel shaft and so spaced apart from the adjacent seat as to make the coin-carrying wheel constitute means acting through the coin to hold the detent 26 retracted during a quarter revolution of the coin-carrying wheelwhich moves the actuating coin from'end to end of the recess 24 and. discharges the coinat the chute outlet 40; whereupon unless otherwise prevented, the bell-crank .22, 22 will be returned to the co n-interceptmg and meter-stopping position of Fig. 1 by the force of the spring 29; but in case another coin, not shown has been inserted in the chute 18 before the coin 16'has been discharged from between the seat 15 and recess 24, said other coin will pass the coin-intercepting contacts 19, 2-0 before the first coin is discharged, and will then be inposition to maintain the bell-crank 22, 22 in the stop-disengaging position of Fig. 4. 7

It is thus seen that arm 35 not only moves the coin into the pocket 15 of the coin wheel, but in so doing moves the coin against shoulder on arm 22 to thereby swing arm 22 .tion, the crank lever 22 and 22 to hold the deand release detent 26 from stop 27, the arm thus acting through the coin releases the meter mechanism and brings the coin into position where the coin-wheel 9, by its rotaacts through the coin 16 to operate tent in its released position and to finally release the cranklever so that the detent may return to locking position.

It is thus seen that so long as there is at least one coin in the chute 18 in addition to the actuating coin 16, and the gas turned on, operation of the meter mechanism will be continuous and furthermore that the portion of the chute above the plane of the contacts 19, 20 forms in effect a coin-reservoir. V The cover 89 is provided with a circular coin-receiving orifice 41 adapted to communicate with the chute inlet 17 when the cover is in place on the frame.

Access may be had to the inside of the cover 89 to remove the actuating coins and furthermore to substitute a rate gear of a different size for the detachable rate gear 2 whenever it is desired to change the rate; and forthese purposes the meter cover is provided with a comparatively large hand hole 42 normally closed by a door 43 which is pivoted at oneof its upper corners at 44 to the cover and is provided at its other upper. corner with a perforated hinged clasp 45 that may be brought into registration with aperforated lug 46 of the cover for fastening as by a padlock 65.. The door 43 is provided with a pair of hooked tongues 47 arranged near'jthe two lower corners of the door and adapted to engage a pairof slots 48 when the door is closed. 1 The pivot 44, clasp and lug 45, 46, and'tongues and slots 47, 48 thus form fasteners at the four corners of the door 43, and when the clasp and lug are-unlocked fromeach other the door may be swung on pivot 44 which is eccentric to the annular wall 6 so that as the door is swung on the pivot 44, the" hooked tongues are withdrawn fromthe annular wall, but when the door is closed and locked. they engage the wall to prevent the door from being pried off.

The metercover 3 is provided internally with a slotted bracket 49 and perforated bracket 50 between which the attachment frame (Z may be caught. The attachment frame (Z is provided with two hollow legs 51, 51 to rest on the meter case 40 to which the, frame cl is fixed by a screw f passed through the frame at and the leg 51 and screwed into the meter case40 and into one of the bosses 7' provided in the meter case to form solid closed seats for the screws that fasten various parts to the meter case. r f

In order to prevent anyone from tampering with the prepay mechanism by means of 7 an instrument inserted through the coin chute, the cover is provided at the orifice with an inwardly projecting collar .52 resting against the outer wall of the coin chute, and registering with the true coin inlet 17 therein; said outer wall being provided with coin, as a nickel, dime or'penny, inserted into the chute intended for the larger coin will passbackthrough the false coin outlet and drop directly into the coin box without actuating the prepay mechanism.

The inwardly projecting collar is elongated'so as to afford obstruction to manipulation of an through into the coin chute. The starting key though attached to the cover is not attached to the starting stem and therefore does notinterfere with the detaching of the cover when such detaching is desired. The attachment frame-(Z is provided with a slot 54 to slide onto the inner plate 55 of the index frame (Z which is fixed in the usual way by means of two slotted legs 9 and screws h to the meter case 40.. The sides of the slot-54' are provided with inwardly extending lugs 56, 57, 58, 59 standing in two separate'planes to form a runway, and a latch 60 pivoted at 61 to the attachment frame, holds the attachmentfirmly on the index frame.

' In installing the device for practical use 4 coin wheel 9 and the and secured by it is necessary that the coin wheel 9 shall be "adjusted to a position analogous to that shown in Fig. .l-when the bell crank is at rest and the coin wheel is in position to allow the required coin'to be forced between the contacts 19 and 20' and into a coin seat 15; and for the purpose of readily determining the proper position, two pin holes 62, 63 provided respectively in the attachment frame cZ will be broughtinto alinement, a pin, not shown, being inserted into said holes to determine such alinement at the time the rate wheels are put in place, and being withdrawn after, the rate'wheels have been placed the screw 3, and the trans mission gear 6 has been meshed with the detachable rate wheel 2". Y

There is liability that the bell crank 22 1 may be moved too far by the action of the arm 35. against the coin 16, and to avoid this, a stop 64: is fixed to the frame by the screw 10 and projects into the way of the bell-crank lever 22, so that said lever can o'nlybe thrust back the appropriate distance. 7

The different members of the set of interchangeable rate gears 2. vary from each otherin the ratio of one tooth, each repreinstrument inserted there-' senting five cents on the rate for a thousand feet, and usually but one gear will be provided for each meter at a time, another gear being provided and put to use when a change of rate is made.

The 1000-feet wheel and the main rate wheel which meshes therewith, each has sixty teeth so that the main rate wheel makes a single revolution for each thousand feet of gas. For convenience the coin wheel gear 8 is provided with twenty teeth, and there fore, in case the machine is constructed to be operated by twenty-five cent pieces, as shown in the drawings, each of the twenty teeth represents five cents, there being four quarter dollars discharged at each revolution of the coin wheel. The intermediate transmission gears 6, 7, are preferably provided with the same number of teeth as the coin wheel gear, and the ratio between the revolutions of the main rate gear 2 and the coin wheel is determined by the number of teeth in the rate changing gear 2", each tooth in which, in the construction shown, represents five cents of the rate. If said rate changing gear has forty teeth, the rate is two dollars; if but twenty teeth, the rate is one dollar, and so 011.

The coin-box is formed by the meter case -10 and the cover 39 and its door 43 and when said door 13 is swung into position shown in Fig. 10 a padlock, 65 may be inserted. through the clasp and lug'45, 46, thus holding the door from swinging on the pivot 44. At the same time the catches 47 are caught in the slots 48, thus preventing the door from being pried off at the bottom. 2 In order to open the coin-box the padlock ,which is provided with the index-movement indicated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 10, the latch 60 being open the gears 2, 2 removed and the radius arm at swung back, the attachment frame is slid into place between the tongues 56, 57, 58, 59 on the index plate, and the latch 60 is turned into position to secure the attachment frame. Then the gears 2,2 and the screw 3 will be put into place, and the radius arm with gears 6, 7, 8, will be swung into position to cause gear 6 to mesh with gear 2. Then the screw f will be passed through the attachment frame (Z and leg 51 and is screwed into the head 40 of the meter case. Then the cover 39 is applied over the index plate 55 and attachment frame (1, and is brought'into position with the slot of the bracket 49 on the stud 51 and the bracket 50 over the hollow leg 51; and the door 43 being open, the locking screw 50 is passed through the bracket 50 and the hollow leg 51 and is screwed into the meter case head.

Then the door 43 will be closed and locked with the padlock 65, whereupon the prepay meter is ready for use.

In order to detach the prepaying attachment from the meter case it is only necessary to open the door 13 unscrew the screw 50 whereupon the cover may be slid upward. I

By releasing the latch the attachment frame may be withdrawn from the index frame, it being necessary, first, however, to free the rate gears 2, 2" from the index movement and the attachment by unscrewing the screw 3 and swinging the radius arm 4: so as to allow the rate gears to be removed. On returning the attachment to the meter, the reverse operation will be performed.-

In practical operation the device having been provided with a rate gear 2 having the appropriate number of teeth to give the ratio for the determined rate, the consumer desiring to operate the meter will insert a coin, in this instance a twenty-five cent piece, in the orifice 17 and the coin will then pass down the chute 18, 18 to the'position shown in Fig. l. The consumer will then turn the key 38 thus rotating the arm 85 to push the coin downward between contacts 19, 20, thereby wedging the bell-crank arm 22 in the direction of the arrow thereon, thus retracting the detent 26 from engagement with the tooth 27 and allowing the meter mechanism, not shown, to drive the coin-carrying wheel 9; said mechanism acting through the intermediate index train a, rate gears 2, 2 and reversing gear wheels 6, 7, 8 so as to carry the coin downward during a quarter revolution of the coincarrying wheel, which will continue to turn so long as gas is supplied to the meter and there is a coin between the coin seat 15 and the recessed wall 24 of the bell-crank limb 22.

When the actuating coin 16 escapes at the chute outlet 40 and no other coin of the right denomination has been inserted in the device before the passage between the contacts 19, 20 has been contracted by retraction of the bell-crank limb 22 to the solid line position of Fig. 1, the detent will be moved into meter-stopping position for engagement with the tooth 27 as in dotted lines in Fig. 4, whereupon stoppage of the meter mechanism, not shown, is practically instantaneous and is in fact within a small fraction of one revolution of the two-feet wheel so that the pressure of the fluid fur bell-crank on its axis and yet keep the walls of the chute extension 18. r

I claim a 1. The combination with meter index mechanism, of a locking device connected with the unit indicator shaft of said mechanism, means to actuate a coin to release the locking device, and mechanism operated by said index mechanism and adaptedto act through a coin to hold the locking device in the released position. 1

2. The combination witha chute having an inlet; of a downward extension on said chute, a bell-crank forming a movable wall for said chute; index mechanism; locking mechanism controlled by said bell-crank,

Wheel p id d with arms and with recesses between the arms to accommodate a coin, the wheel being provided with detentsto cooperate with the detent of the bell-crank to support a coin in the chute extension; means to force the coin past said detents thereby moving the bell-crank from looking position, and means operated by the index mechanism to move the wheel to advance the coin out of lever retracting position. I

3. The combination with meter index mechanism, of a locking device connected with the unit indicator shaftof said mechanism, coin-controlled mechanism for releasing the locking device, and mechanism operated by said index mechanism, and adapted to act through a coin to hold the locking device out of locking position.

4. The combination with meter index mechanism, of a recessed coin wheel, means to feed a coin to said coin wheel and to operate such coin to release the index mechanism, yielding means to retainsuch coin in such wheel to continue such release during rotation of the wheel, a stop connected with the index mechanism, a detent to engage the stop, means operated by the coin retalner to release the detent when the coin retainer is moved away from the coin wheel, and gearing connecting the index mechanism with the coin wheel to rotate said wheel to move the coin between thecoin retainer and the coin wheel to hold the coin retainer away from the coin wheel.

5. A prepay attachment for gas meters comprising a frame adapted to be attached to a gas meter; mechanism carried by the frame to lock the index mechanism of the gas meter when said frame is attached to the gas meter; a coin carrier carried by said frame; means to feed a coin to said coincarrier and to operate such coin to release the index mechanism; and to continue such release during a definite rotation of the coin carrier; mechanism adapted to connect the index mechanism and the coin carrier when the frame is attached to the gas meter; said coin carrier being adapted to hold a coin in position to release the locking mechanism and being operable by the index mechanism to carry the coin out of such position as the meter mechanism moves.

6. The combination with meter index mechanism, of aflocking' device connected with the unit indicator shaft of said mechanism, means acting through a coin to release the. locking device, and means controlled by a coin and operated by said index mechanism to act through said coin to hold thelocking device in the released position.

7. The combination with the unit indicator shaft of meter mechanism, of a latch operating to lock said shaft against turning, means operating against a .coin to move a coin against the latch to retract said latch, and a device operating against said coin to hold the coin against the latch to hold the latch retracted, said device being operated by the meter mechanism to discharge the coin from its latch-retracting position.

8.The combination with meter mechanism', of a latch to lock said mechanism against operating, a coin-carrying wheel operatably connected to the meter mechanism, coin-supporting contacts on the latch and wheel respectively to support a coin when the latch is in locking position, and means c to force the coin between said contacts to retract the latch.

9. The combination with meter mechanism, of a latch to lock said mechamsm against operating, a co1n-carry1ng wheel operatably connected to the metermechanism copies of thil patent maybo obtained for five cents each, by addressing the and provided with a curved seat, coin-slipporting contacts onthe latch and wheel respectively to support a coin when the latch is in locking position, said latch forming an arc having its generating axis to coincide with the axis of the coin carrying wheel and spaced apart from the wheel so that when the latch is retracted the distance between the latch and curved seat is equal to the diameter ofthe coin, and means to force the coin between said contacts and into the space between the curved retract the latch.

i 10. The combination with meter mechanism, of a wheel designed to move a coin around its axis and operated by said mechanism, a pivoted latch having a curved edge conforming to the periphery of the path of travel of the coin and connected to the meter mechanism. to lock saidmechanism, and spaced apart from the wheel so that when the latch is retracted the distance between the wheel and curved edge is equal to the diameter of the coin and so that when the latch is in looking position the distance between the wheel and curvededge is less than the diameter of the coin.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 18th day of September, 1912.

ELIAS B. DE LA MATYR.

Commissioner cf Patents,

Washing on, D. 0.

seat and latch to 

